Here is yet another snazzy entertainer belonging to the genre of comedy-thriller. The thrill is less important than the quirkiness of some of the characters. For one, there are two ganjai-obsessed friends who are misunderstood to be gays. Then there is a criminal, Vasool Raja, who remembers music (Illayaraja’s music, to be precise) even when he is making his gory danda. At one point of time, he even says, “I have always wondered as to who between Illaraja and AR Rehman is the better one.”
There are three groups consisting of two or more youngsters each who are in deep trouble or could fall in deep trouble if things go wrong. Two of them (Navdeep and Saikumar Pampana) are next-door-guys who have those middle class sympathies and frustrations. Another two (Naveen Chandra and Praveen) are habitual swindlers who do the heist for the Seth-cum-smuggler (Posani Krishna Murali) . They are confident conmen, complete with greed. Then there are four friends (Pradeep Machiraju, Prachi and others), who are living-in together; they face no problems like greed or pecuniary shortage, but the obsession of the boys with ganjai brings them in direct confrontation with police and Vasool Raja (played by Pankaj Kesari.
On a day, their lives converge as they bump into each other as a series of events culminate into a cat and mouse chase, almost.
‘Bham Bholenath’ is a light-veined entertainer that is packed with no unnecessary songs or forced comedy. There is no tense moment yes, neither is there is any edge-of-the-seat-moment, something that might have been entirely intended.
The defining moment of this movie is the climax itself where all the characters converge at one place only to unconsciously revel in a forbidden way. Their self-forgetfulness is perhaps defining of the film’s non-serious nature.
On the flip side, the film is more difficult to follow than it should have. One needs to follow all the lines spoken by the characters, especially in the second half. The comedy is delivered in a subtle-way. At times, the happenings border on the surreal, yet the same is not elevated through a song.
The best part of the film is the good performances. Everyone is equally good. If not for the good choices, the film would have surely seemed boring. For example, an almost absurd behavior of the two ganjai-drunk characters would have been irritating had the actors not got it right. Navdeep's pair Pooja Jhaveri looks okay.
Technically, this one is surely one of the best in the given budgetary constraints. The cinematography is surely so good. Apart from it, the BGM gets good marks.
The dialogues are brief and leave a mark.
Verdict: A comedy-thriller that can be watched for the light-veined entertainment and good performances.
Rating: 2.25/5
